Soccer-PSG lose at 10-man Reims ahead of Champions League clash

March 02, 2013|Reuters

PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain slumped to a second defeat in three Ligue 1 games, losing 1-0 at 10-man Stade Reims on Saturday as they prepared for their Champions League clash with Valencia in the worst possible way.

Grzegorz Krychowiak netted the only goal two minutes after his team mate Christopher Glombard was sent off on the hour.

PSG, who host Valencia in their last 16, second leg match on Wednesday having won 2-1 at the Mestalla, looked nothing like the side who handed out two 2-0 defeats to arch rivals Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1 and the French Cup in the past week.

Saturday's result sets the stage for a nail biting run-in to the Ligue 1 season as second-placed Olympique Lyon can move level on points with PSG by winning at Stade Brest on Sunday.

PSG have 54 points from 27 matches with Lyon on 51 from 26.

Reims eased their relegation fears as they moved up to 15th on 27 points, four points above the safety zone.

Later on Saturday (1900 GMT), fifth-placed St Etienne host Nice, who are fourth, with both sides looking to leapfrog Olympique Marseille when they meet at Geoffroy Guichard.

Marseille, who host ES Troyes AC on Sunday, have 46 points ahead of Nice on 45 and St Etienne with 44.

FIERCE SHOT

Even against lowly teams, PSG like to play on the counter-attack, a philosophy that does not always produce dividends in their pursuit of a first league title since 1994.

They had their chances, with Ibrahimovic's fierce shot from just outside the box in the 13th minute blocked by goalkeeper Kossi Agassa after the Swede was set up by Blaise Matuidi.

However, it was Reims who came closest to opening the scoring when Anthony Weber's 34th minute effort was cleared off the line by Marco Verratti.

PSG's resulting counter-attack saw Ezequiel Lavezzi through one-on-one with Agassa but he missed the target.

Reims' Gaaetan Courtet then skied a header over the bar from a cross by Odair Fortes.

Glombard was sent off after getting two yellow cards in 14 minutes but the home side continued to press and were rewarded when Krychowiak latched on to Mohamed Fofana's downward header.

David Beckham, in his third PSG appearance since joining as a free agent on Jan. 31, replaced Verratti four minutes later but his introduction did little to help PSG. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)